About Bicycle Quarterly’s blog

Off The Beaten Path is my blog about the goings-on at Bicycle Quarterly and Compass Bicycles: Rides we do, how we keep our bikes on the road, new products, glimpses of topics in upcoming issues of the magazine, and more.

Bicycle Quarterly is our passion. The magazine existed long before we ever thought about developing and selling bike parts. As we learned more and more about “real world” bicycles, we found that many of the parts needed to make these bicycles were not available. We founded Compass Bicycles to make these parts. We sell the parts we use, and we develop the components that we need for our own bikes.

Bicycle Quarterly remains strictly independent of Compass Bicycles. The magazine often features other companies’ products, and when appropriate, is critical of products we sell.

As a personal space, this blog charts my involvement in both companies, rather than strive for the independence of Bicycle Quarterly. The blog is a way to share what we are working on, where we ride, and what is on our minds. We encourage discussion in the “comments” section. Enjoy!

Really enjoy the blog as it adds to an already very fine magazine.
I am still adjusting to the rando bike style as I am a long time
20mm to 25mm wide tire kinda guy, but with every year that
passes I find my appreciation for the bicycle grows as well.

Really enjoy the blog as it adds to an already very fine magazine. I am still adjusting to the rando bike style as I am a long-time 20mm to 25mm wide tire kinda guy, but with every year that passes I find my appreciation for the bicycle grows as well.
+1

In search for new tires I encountered your blog. I thought “look if this Dutchman can enlighten me”. Your tire test didn’t help me much, but I am really happy to have found your site! Great stuff. I almost want to pick up the restorationproject of my 1958 Locomotief! But I am lacking time and money…..
Keep up the good work
Jeroen Kleijn
The Netherlands

Recently read the latest issue of the magazine where you talked about not putting much weight on one’s hands and arms while riding. This has always been difficult and wonder how to change my riding style to avoid sore wrists. Almost all riders I see seem to be leaning on the bars.

To get weight off your bars, there are two things to consider: 1. Move your handlebars far enough forward so that your hands no longer are below your shoulders, but stretched forward. 2. Now that your back (instead of your arms) is holding you up, move your handlebars up high enough that the inclination of your back is in tune with your power output and your core strength.

As we discussed in the latest Bicycle Quarterly, the inclination of your back should balance the upward thrusts of your pedal strokes. The harder you pedal, the more inclined your back should be. Unfortunately, many modern bikes try to look “racy” by placing the bars lower than the seat, but since many beginning riders don’t have the power output to balance a low position, bike makers have shortened the reach and have the riders lean on the bars. Getting the bars higher and further forward would be a better solution, but it wouldn’t be as easy to sell.

Wrist problems also may be caused by vibrations. Reducing vibrations is most effective at their source, so wider, more supple tires are your best remedy. Another thing is to change hand positions from time to time, and get handlebars that support your hands well and allow multiple positions.

I recently installed Grand Bois Cerf 700 x 28 tires on my litespeed touring bike. l think they are fine tires, but I found little difference in handling or speed between them and Continental 4 Season 700×28 tires. When aired to 105 psi, they seem as rigid as the Continentals. Am I missing something?

Unless you and your bike are very heavy, you shouldn’t need to ride your 28 mm tires at 105 psi… At super-high pressures, all tires will be very hard. Here is some guidance to tire pressures based on your weight and tire width.

I thought that you might like to add to your ‘favorite blogs/websites’ the French ‘Cyclotourisme Tandem Noir (http://tandem.noir.pagesperso-orange.fr/). There is an extensive bibliography of, mainly French, cycling literature, a technical section, and much information about PBP and their own site sponsored fleches and randonees. Highly recommended.

I really enjoy reading your blog and articles. Have been a cyclist in the UK for over 50 years from early club cycling and racing in the 60’s and 70’s through many extensive European camping tours of several months duration so it’s refreshing to see some logic and sense brought to the cycling world.
However, there is nothing new in good quality complient wide tyres on 650b or 26″ wheels. The last 25 years I have been riding a custom lugged 531 touring bike with 26″ wheels and Panaracer pasella 26 x 1.75″ (since they first came out). Mudguards and Racks included. The bike was built by Dave Yate, it’s called “The Hosteller” and performs beautifully loaded or otherwise. I also ride a Thorn XTC short wheelbase 26″ wheeled audax bike built in Reynolds 725, fast and fun but very comfortable with 26 x 1.5 Pasella’s.
Back in the 60’s quite a few old timers in our club swore by, and toured on 26 x 1.3/8″ tyres.
I now have a couple of sets of your Compass tyres waiting to be installed on these bikes that will hopefully make great bikes even better.

I’m sure you will have encountered the great frame builder and cycle constructer Dave Oliver’s book “Touring Bicycles” from the early 90’s he was a strong advocate of 650b and 26″ wheeled touring bikes with high quality supple wide tyres, many of us in the UK were turned onto the concept by him many years ago. Glad to see you are building upon that work.

I think you’ll find a very noticeable difference between the Compass tires and the Paselas. The Paselas are great for a mid-range tire, but they don’t use a high-end casing with ultra-fine threads. But you are right, wide high-performance tires are nothing new. Vélocio swore by them during the 1920s, and until the 1950s, Barreau made wonderful hand-made clinchers as wide as 42 mm. It’s just that wide tires with truly high performance (and the associated comfort) hadn’t been available for almost 50 years…

Thanks for the encouraging response about the Compass tyres. I did use the Panaracer Hi-Road 26 x 1.5″ folding for a long time until they discontinued them and they were better rolling and more comfortable than the paselas. So if the Compass prove to be a good step up from the Hi Road I’ll be very pleased.
I’m a huge fan of the 26 X 1.75 size for general touring and switched over from 700c in the late 80’s, However, were I not so well set up for wheels etc in that size I would seriously consider converting one of my bikes to 650B and may possibly go that way at some point down the line. That said though, my touring/Audax bikes seem very stable yet nimble with 26″ wheels, possibly as they are custom designed and built to use that size for touring so maybe not much if anything to be gained from a set of 650B wheels?

Once you go to tires wider than 42 mm, you don’t gain much from 650B wheels. In fact, I prefer the Rat Trap Pass 26″ tires (54 mm wide) over the Switchback Hill 650B (almost the same width). The bigger wheel and heavier tire make the bike too stable for my taste. The opposite applies to narrow 26″ tires, which result in a bike that isn’t stable enough.

Generally, TPI is related to performance, but only indirectly. You want thinner threads, and higher TPI usually has thinner threads. But you also get higher TPI by pushing the threads closer together – with a denser weave. That makes a stronger, but less supple tire. The complete information on this topic is here.